1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to articles that are intended to be worn upon the person as ornaments. This invention is also related to fastenings comprising material utilizing magnetism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Of the many types of ornaments that people use to decorate their bodies, some of the most popular types are beaded jewelry, charms, and pendants. Beaded jewelry, charms, and pendants are usually inexpensive, casual, and cute, which is appealing to everyone.
Like any other fashion market, due to ever-changing consumer demand, the market for beaded jewelry, charms, and pendants is under extreme pressure to constantly provide new designs to consumers. Continually providing fresh looks is both expensive in terms of development and manufacture, and risky because there can be no guarantee that the desired crowd of consumers will embrace any particular design.
Therefore, there is an ongoing need to provide new, desirable, and inexpensive beaded jewelry, charms, and pendants to consumers. In particular, and especially in light of the defining, but sometimes conflicting, human desires of treasuring the past and creating the future, there is an ongoing need to provide new, desirable, and inexpensive jewelry that can change and transform, attach and detach, and be expanded and simplified, so that previous pieces can still be used while new pieces can always be incorporated in ever changing designs envisioned and executed by the actual wearer.
Jewelry systems and convertible jewelry articles are known in the art. However, as discussed hereinbelow, prior art jewelry systems and convertible jewelry articles do not meet the above-identified consumer needs because the prior art jewelry systems are either proprietary, un-expandable, non-transformable, and/or limited in design or construction.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0110798 to Ignatowski describes a three-piece convertible eyeglass retainer/jewelry article. An article according to Ignatowski is convertible from an eyeglass retainer to multiple independent jewelry articles, such as a necklace, bracelet, dangling glass extension, or hair jewelry. Of course, the essential characteristic of the jewelry article of the Ignatowski publication is the eyeglass retainer. While one or two of the strands can be used as a necklace or bracelet, at least one of the strands is inevitably adapted for attachment with a temple arm of eyeglasses. Thus, the Ignatowski patent does not provide or even suggest true inter-transformation or inter-changeability.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2002/0148251 to Plumly describes a jewelry system including a locket clasp for conversion of a bracelet into a necklace. A jewelry finding according to Plumly is provided as a neck accessory with locket clasps and/or flexible loops at the ends thereof, which enables a flexible bracelet to be worn as a necklace. However, the clear shortcoming of the Plumly patent is the limited scope of the solution it provides. Specifically, the jewelry finding of the Plumly patent does not accommodate any other type of jewelry except bracelets. For example, the jewelry finding of the Plumly patent cannot be used with earrings, while using the jewelry finding with a necklace would be superfluous at best. Thus, the Plumly patent provides a narrow solution to a specific problem, and does not provide true inter-transformation where one design can be augmented or simplified to become a completely different design or item or article.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,871 to Romano describes a jewelry system including a necklace assembly having opposed end that are connectable to one another by releasably lockable primary finding components. The primary necklace assembly of the Romano patent comprises three pre-set pieces—a first bracelet component, a second bracelet component, and a pin component—that are attached together by auxiliary findings. Substantial design and construction effort is employed in order to make the auxiliary findings between the three components as “unobtrusive” as possible. In fact, while the primary findings of the Romano patent may be of “prior art” construction, the auxiliary findings are unusual and specific to the Romano patent, which means that the jewelry system of the Romano patent does not have free and unlimited inter-transformability and interchangeability. For example, due to the fact that the auxiliary findings of the Romano patent are not a general or common type of finding, it is clearly not possible to replace or interchange the pin component of the Romano patent with a pin component from a previous or future jewelry system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,252 to Mochizuki describes a combination necklace that can be assembled in different configurations from separate necklaces of different or equal lengths. The Mochizuki patent provides only longer or shorter loops that are mechanically coupled together. In other words, the combination necklace of the Mochizuki patent can be a long necklace, a choker, a bracelet, an anklet, or any or loop-type jewelry article. However, the combination necklace of the Mochizuki patent is not adapted to become an earring, or a pendant, or some other type of non-loop jewelry. Also, the combination necklace of the Mochizuki patent cannot be augmented or enhanced with pendants, charms, or the like. Moreover, the Mochizuki patent does not disclose or even suggest the use of magnets. Thus, like the foregoing references, the combination necklace of the Mochizuki patent does not provide true inter-transformation where one design can be augmented or simplified to become a completely different design.
It is known in the art to provide magnet clasps to secure or close two ends of a jewelry article. For a recent example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0061689 describes a magnetic jewelry clasp comprising two bodies that each have a surface magnetically attracted to the other. It is also known in the art to provide jewelry with magnets for purported therapeutic effects. For a recent example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0173692 describes a magnetic key chain can be understood to be used on a living body, including around the wrist, around the arm, fingers, legs, ankles, and neck. Supposedly, a wide range of therapeutic benefits may be realized by wearing the magnetic jewelry at a variety of locations on the body.
It should be recognized, that using magnets as simple clasps or for their purported therapeutic effect clearly fails to full exploit the versatility of magnets.
It should be further recognized that each prior reference provides for, and requires, the retention of the original form despite a possible change in use, resulting in a mere connection in a different way without inter-transformation.